THE pub where a row flared and ended in the death of Salford father-of-two Frank Buckley is facing closure after losing an appeal for a new drinks licence.

Yates's Wine Lodge in Swinton - which employed one of the killers - had its licence application rejected in February after Salford magistrates heard police had attended 60 violent incidents there in two years.

Some involved allegations from customers that they had been attacked by Yates's door staff.

At that hearing, the chairman of the bench, Roger Hall, said the pub was likely to be a threat to public safety in the future. Yates's took the case to an appeal hearing at Manchester Crown Court.

The appeal was heard by Judge Stuart Fish and four magistrates and was refused.

Police will now apply for a full revocation of the licence at the pub, since renamed the Swinton.

Mr Buckley, 47, was drinking at Yates's with relatives to celebrate his father-in-law's 65th birthday on the night he was kicked to death in March last year. He was attacked outside the pub by a gang of men who included bouncers from Yates's, a chain based in Bolton. Magistrates at Salford who originally rejected the application had heard evidence from crusading Salford resident Chris Davies, who obtained details about the number of times police were called to Yates's.

In April last year, a month after Mr Buckley's death, police started proceedings to revoke Yates's licence. But after discussions it was decided that the firm should apply for a new licence with conditions attached. At the appeal hearing, Clare Johnson for Yates's said the company had adhered voluntarily to the conditions since November last year. This included closing at 11.30pm, no late extensions, no cheap drink promotions and a pledge to install é20,000 worth of CCTV cameras if the appeal was approved.

Yates's operations manager David Crabtree told the court: "We have spent é100,000 changing the style of the pub. It is a community pub in the centre of Swinton."

But Mr Davies told the court: "We should not send a signal that once local justices do make a stand a company like Yates's can go to court and get it overturned by making a series of cosmetic changes."

Pleased

After the case Mr Davies said he was "over the moon", adding: "I am particularly pleased for the Buckley family, who will now know that the premises where Frank was killed are going to be closed and hopefully closed for good."

A spokesman for Yates's said: "We are very disappointed with the court's decision and we have to consider our options and the future of this site."

In December last year, Daniel Anderson, from Clifton, who was employed as a doorman at Yates's even though he was 17 years old, was jailed for five years after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

His boss Brian Horrocks, 38, of Swinton, was convicted of violent disorder and sentenced to three and a half years for his part in the incident.

Christopher Zammit, 21, from Pendlebury, who was not working as a bouncer at the premises, also admitted manslaughter and was jailed for five years. Four men were jailed for violent disorder.